Want to immerse in a climate change story to be published for course credit? Sign onto XFic’s American Lawn Project here.
Students enrolled in Creative Nonfiction Writing: XFic (ENGL 3353) will spend a semester on a feature-length piece of deeply investigated longform to be published as each student’s “final.” This Spring semester, XFic is diving into ‘The American Lawn Project.’ For this special single-topic issue, in partnership with Environmental Innovations Initiative (EII), XFic will invite students to tailor stories to their own area of interest, and then collaboratively attack The American Lawn from multiple angles. Is writing not exactly your thing? We’ve got you covered! Undergrads can also choose to work on the XFic Instagram or podcast for the semester. Whatever your medium, each story will partner a student writer with a professor or professional whose research will be highlighted in the issue. EII and XFic will work in close collaboration to promote both student and faculty work.
Why ‘The American Lawn Project?’ Because turf makes up the largest irrigated crop in the United States—at 40 million acres its area is three times that of corn—it is a major contributor to the biodiversity crisis. Conventional reporting cannot capture the full dimension of Poa pratensis, better known as Kentucky bluegrass, but students reporting from a variety of disciplines will create a more three-dimensional “global view.” One might explore the chemistry of pesticides. Another could investigate water consumption, or alternative uses of property. But students might also profile faculty whose research is cultural: what is the historical connection between fancy lawns and feudal wealth, and how did it become a symbol of the American Dream? When did pushing around a fossil-fuel spouting guillotine on wheels become conflated with masculine identity? Another essay might explore how the status of such a modest weed was popularized through film, advertisements, and fashion.
To put it simply: at its root (no pun intended), the lawn has tendrils in every niche of our cultural ecosystem. This three-dimensional (and sustained) approach will allow us to gain critical depth on how a mundane sight is a symbol of greater American society.
For the Creative Writing Program, this is a bit of a journalistic experiment! There’s a good bit of skepticism about conventional media’s ability to move the needle on important issues. But, given sufficient time to explore all the facets, can a group of dedicated undergrads achieve such a global view? And can achieving that larger view lead to measurable impact? Take XFic and prove that they can.